The use of software keyboards on computers with displays has proven helpful. For example, many portable computers do not have sufficient space to provide a physical keyboard. While it is possible to use an external physical keyboard, for user of portable computers it is often undesirable to carry around an external keyboard because doing so would vitiate part of the benefit of having a portable computer in the first place.
While other methods exist, however, often a keyboard is the most effective means of entering data. Therefore, software keyboards have been used as a way to provide the user with a method of entering data and/or writing on, for example, portable PC's.
Given the limited amount of space available on the display, however, often the software keyboard will assign more than one label to a single software key. Current software keyboards generally display one label at a time on each software key and require the user to select a modifier key such as selecting a SHIFT key in order to see what other labels are associated with a particular software key. This can make it difficult for an individual to quickly use the software keyboard. This problem is exacerbated in a situation where the keyboard is being used by a person familiar with keyboards based on another language. For example, the English keyboard associates the selection of “SHIFT” and “2” with the label “@” while the Italian keyboard associates the “@” label with the “SHIFT” and “;” keys. Thus, the English keyboard associates the “2” label and the “@” label with a key while the Italian keyboard associates the “@” label and the “;” label with a different key. This can cause confusion for the user.
As noted above, some software keyboards associate multiple labels with a single software key. For example, the English keyboard typically associates two labels with each software key. Some languages, such as East Asian languages, may associate more labels with a key. While the English keyboard simply requires a shift to see the other labels associated with the software key, a software keyboard configured for an East Asian language such as Japanese might require selecting a “SHIFT” key, a “ALT” key or an “CTRL” key in combination with another key to access all the labels associated with that particular key. As the number of labels associated with the software key increases it becomes more difficult for the user to effectively use the software keyboard. Therefore, current software keyboards do not meet the needs of some users.